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Five
Considerations before Joining a Crit Groupby
Terry W. Ervin II

One of
the more useful activities a writer employ to improve his
work is to participate in a writing critique group.
While active participation in a crit group (whether
online or in person) takes time, the payoff can be well
worth the effortif it is the right crit group.

Below
are five areas to consider before taking the plunge and
joining a crit group.

1. Motivated Writers

Being
around other writers can be infectious, but if one is
going to spend time with a group of writers for support,
insight, and advice, the focus should be the discussion
of writing produced by group members. The writers
in a crit group should have goals, and each member should
be actively working to achieve those goals. A goal
may be as simple as finishing a novel by a certain date,
or achieving the submission of three short stories for
publication by the New Year.

A crit
group is not a social club. While friendships may form,
the main focus of the group should be on writing.
This may include networking, discussions on market
trends, and sharing research in addition to reading and
critiquing writing submitted by members for
evaluation. Keeping the atmosphere professional and
on track will promote what the group was formed for in
the first placeto improve writing and achieve
goals. A professional, writing focused, goal
oriented structure also makes it easier to dismiss a
member for failing to live up to group expectations.

2. Minimum Requirements

A crit
group should have established minimum requirements for
participation. Clear guidelines (some would call
rules) regarding submissions for member evaluation and
guidelines for critiques are essential. Doing so
reduces misunderstandings and hard feelings.
Guidelines should be structured to keep every member an
active participant as well restricting one or two writers
from dominating the time and effort of the group.
The rules must be enforced, including a mechanism for
removing members that fail to meet the established
guidelines. A method to alter or amend the
guidelines should be included when the group forms.
As any longstanding group will have some turnover, a
clear procedure for adding new members is important as
well.

3. At the Same Level

While it
may initially appear a blessing for an aspiring writer to
be among a group of accomplished pros, the disparity in
writing ability will become a barrier for success.
How much will the aspiring writer be able to
constructively contribute? What weight will the
aspiring writers input carry? A crit group
should be a benefit to all members. Will the
pro writers become bored with the aspiring writers
efforts and frustrated at the time it takes to critique
writing far below their current ability? Such
disparity can lead to discontent among members,
disrupting the effectiveness of the group.

This is
not to say that varying levels cannot work. If
the less experienced writers submit stimulating and
interesting work and are quick learners, and if
the more experienced writers are able to garner useful
insight from the less experienced members, it could
work. These, however, are major ifs.

4. Good Mixture

Strong
crit groups have well read participants with a range of
experiences and opinions. This variety of views and input
is invaluable to a writer. Some things like
punctuation, clear antecedents, internal consistency, and
proper dialogue tags are straight forward. A writer
can read his work a dozen times and still overlook these
things. Other areas such as pace, plot structure,
and characterization are more subjective. It is up
to the writer as to which suggestions and modifications
they will implement.

While
some writers work in pairs with a single dedicated
critique partner, a crit group can be more valuable due
to its broader range of experience and input.

5. Interest Writing

One
thing that should not be overlooked by a writer
interested in a crit group is that the works of the other
writers must be of interest to him. While the
writing itself may be good, there is little worse than
having to read and carefully analyze something that
totally disinterests the reader. A reader who
favors hard science fiction may have trouble working
through a classic whodunit mystery or a steamy romance.

Many
crit groups are genre focused in an effort to avoid this
issue. They may consist of only fantasy, science
fiction, mystery, horror, or romance writers. A
writer who works in multiple genres, or writes stories
that are not solidly in one genre, may have some
concerns. But, in general, good writing that contains
elements of a crit groups specific genre focus is
welcome.

***

A writer
may argue that lists of rules are not necessary.
They inhibit creativity and the free flow of ideas. They
are tools which an unhappy member can use to bludgeon
other members over the head. In reality,
well-crafted guidelines will insure a fair, stable, and
smooth running group. If members continually
reference a guideline infraction, either it was an
ill-conceived rule in need of modification or they
have a legitimate point.

Terry W.
Ervin II is an English teacher who enjoys writing Science
Fiction and Fantasy. He is a frequent contributor to
Fiction Factor and his fiction has appeared a number of
places, including The Sword Review, Futures Mystery
Anthology Magazine and MindFlights.

When Terry isnt writing or enjoying time with his
family, he can be found in his basement raising turtles.
To contact Terry or to learn more about his writing
endeavors and recommended markets (among other things),
visit his website at: http://www.ervin-author.com